Sales at Overstock.com finally trend up in the second quarter

It was a better quarter all around for mass merchant Overstock.com Inc., which reported gains in both sales and profits for the second period.

For the second quarter ended June 30, Overstock, No. 27 in the 2012 Internet Retailer Top 500, reported:

Sales increased 1.9% to $239.5 million from $235.0 million in the second quarter of 2011. Overstock attributed the growth in sales mostly to increases in the number of visitors and average order value, which more than offset declines in conversion rates and number of orders.

Net income was $470,000 compared with a net loss in the prior year of $7.8 million.

Spending on sales and marketing decreased 1.5% to $13.5 million from $13.7 million in the second quarter of 2011.

Spending on technology declined 10.1% to $15.1 million from $16.8 million in the prior year.

Spending on general and administrative expenses declined 13.2% to $14.5 million from $16.7 million.

“I am once again grateful to my colleagues for getting the flywheel spinning in the right direction, and excited to see how quickly they can accelerate it,” says CEO Patrick Bryne.